Treating toddlers for autism boosts IQ later

TODDLERS with symptoms of autism can show dramatic improvement if they are given early, intensive therapy. The finding, from the first randomised controlled trial in such young children, should settle the question of whether early screening and treatment of autism are worthwhile.

Sally Rogers, a psychologist at the Mind Institute of the University of California, Davis, and colleagues randomly assigned autistic toddlers aged 18 to 30 months to receive either conventional care or an intensive programme of behavioural therapy known as the Early Start Denver Model. This emphasises fun, child-directed activities rather than the repetitive exercises used in conventional autism therapies.

After two years, the 24 children in the ESDM programme achieved higher scores in IQ tests and in several measures of language use and social interaction than the children given conventional care. Psychologists who had not ...

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